Happy Birthday, President Washington!

George Washington’s birthday. To honor our nation’s first (and arguably greatest) president, I took this opportunity to demonstrate J. Robert Clinton’s “scan” reading strategy, by reading Woodrow Wilson’s biography of George Washington in less than twenty minutes.

I am fortunate to have a 1907 printing of this book, passed down to me from my mother’s family, one of whom seems to have purchased a copy the very year of its publication. Woodrow Wilson was one of those rare American presidents who was a scholar, and who retained a scholarly outlook throughout his political career. Having attained the nation’s highest office and experienced the presidency himself, Wilson took it upon himself to write a book about it… but not about himself! Instead, he wrote a biography of the president he most admired: the first one.

I’ve tried to post the video on Youtube. This link ought to take you there.